Unveiled at orientationfor fifth-graders
By:Sally Goldenberg
Sixth-grade students at the Alexander Batcho Intermediate School turned character education lessons into a patchwork quilt, which they presented to the school and community Friday morning in the ABIS auditorium.
Each patch on the quilt represents a lesson in respect, citizenship or good character, which community members highlighted during visits to the school over the past few months.
Sixth-grade social studies teacher Maggie Balzano said one resident who visited her class told students he walked a handicapped boy to and from school each day during his youth. Another emphasized civic duty, noting ways students can volunteer their time in the community, she added.
After several months of character education lessons, the students crafted patches, which Ms. Balzano used as the foundation of the quilt.
"Especially after everything that our country’s going through 9/11 and the war at this age, the children feel helpless. Many of them, from this, felt much more at ease," she said.
Students who did not think they were old enough to be active citizens are displaying new confidence, she added.
During the presentation, students defined citizenship.
"A person of good character is a good citizen, does his or her share, helps the community, plays by the rules and respects authority and the law," said sixth-grader Mike McCarthy during the assembly.
The colorful quilt demonstrates the importance of voting with a patch displaying Uncle Sam. Another square features a football flying over two goal posts to exemplify ambition.
The New Jersey Department of Education funds and mandates character education, defining the initiative as "infusion of core ethical values into the curriculum and teaching strategies that help young people develop positive character traits such as respect, responsibility and caring," according to the department’s initiative update.
Ms. Balzano preceded an assignment to create the patches with lessons on character education terms, such as trustworthiness, integrity and loyalty.
Once students were familiar with the tenets of character education, she culminated the lessons with a quilt-making project because patchwork quilts have historic and familial significance, she said.
"Throughout history, quilting has often been a group endeavor. Several people have worked together to create a single quilt. By designing and making a quilt together, students will learn to work cooperatively to create a symbol," she wrote in a simulation overview.
Students reiterated this point during the presentation.
"In the United States, century-old quilts have come to be considered an important art, enriched by the immigrant flow and pioneer movement during the past two centuries," Natasha Marchick, an ABIS student, told the audience.

